Charles Khoury

Born in 1966, Charles Khoury is a post-war to contemporary artist. He is a graduate of the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (Académie Libanaise des Beaux Arts), and is certified in Lithography. He is a member of UNESCO Paris through the International Association of Fine Arts. Since his official launch onto the art scene in 1989, Khoury has appeared in several solo and group shows around Europe and The Middle East. He has been exhibited in France, the Ivory Coast, Kuwait, Egypt, Dubai, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Abu Dhabi, China, as well as the United Kingdom. In 2008, he was given the “Special Jury Award” by the Nicolas Sursock Museum in Beirut, and in 2013, Khoury was granted the “Artist Residency: Lithography Workshop” in Morocco.

Khoury was born in Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon. Offering all of its tumultuous experiences, Beirut did not disappoint in igniting Khoury’s young talent into the life of an artist. The painter clearly remembers painful memories of the war in Lebanon, but says that he only saw its consequences in later years. He describes his younger self as a rebel who had no interest in anything being taught at school. In his early 20s, he discovered himself as a creative and became acquainted with colours and painting. Art became the only sense of structure in the young man’s life and finally gave him a raison d'être (reason for being). According to Khoury, he is a late bloomer in that he found his calling at a later time than he would have liked to. But once he did, he became completely devoted to his craft. By the time he developed his staple aesthetic, the artist mentioned being influenced by the likes of Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Pablo Picasso. As a response to the war, it was “the demons”, as Khoury likes to describe them, that appeared in his depictions.

Charles spent most of the 1990s working in response to the war and saw his art practice morphing into the residue of the macabre but very popular visual murk of the 1970s. With time, and as Khoury held on to his hopes for humanity, he embarked on the aesthetic journey to present a euphoric world supported by the animal kingdom.

Khoury’s work has been showcased at a number of art fairs, including Volta Basel, Art Dubai, Abu Dhabi Art, Artuel, Bangladesh Biennale, Art 14 London, Affordable Art Fair Battersea, and the Beirut Art Fair. In 2008, he was granted the Special Jury Award at ‘Salon d’Automne’ at the Sursock Museum.

Khoury has attended various workshops during his career, taking on the ‘Artist in Residency – Lithography Workshop’ in Morocco (2013) and the 10th ‘Insight of China – Workshop for Well-Known Arab Artists’ in Hangzhou, China (2018). Khoury teaches Fine Arts at the Saint Joseph School, Antoura.

Latest solo shows

2022 Love from Lebanon, Marie Jose Gallery, London

2022 Headway, Mark Hachem Gallery, Beirut

2021 Identity, Marie Jose Gallery, London

2019 Charles Khoury 2019, Orient Gallery, Amman

2016 The Story in Shapes and color, Kiyan Art, Beirut

Latest group shows

2023 Marie Jose Gallery, London

2021 Marc Hachem Gallery at VOLTA Basel 2021

2020 Pop up for Beirut by Marie Jose Honein at Josephine Clavel Gallery, London

2020 Beirut Art Scene, Marc Hachem Gallery, Beirut

2018 Artspace Collective Show, Artspace Hamra, Beirut